


Time is precious, waste it wisely

by BetterYouThanMe



Series: Harry Potter Drabbles [17]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Arthur is a great dad, Father-Son Relationship, I also don't know what to tag this, Percy doesn't suck, father-son bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 17:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15845673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BetterYouThanMe/pseuds/BetterYouThanMe
Summary: Arthur is worried that Percy won't like the family heirloom he is supposed to get for his birthday.





	Time is precious, waste it wisely

Arthur Weasley held the old pocket watch and ran his thumb over the cover. His father had given it to him over twenty years ago — it had first come into the family when one of his ancestors had it made during the late 1700s.

It was probably a cheap metal with a gold casing. The clock inside used Roman numerals instead of the numbers they were used to. The arms still moved only due to the fact that Arthur often cleaned the gears. The inscription on the inside of the watch's hood read " _Weasley 1796_ " in a beautiful cursive scrawl. The image on the front of the watch was the Weasley house sigil.

Arthur was sure the watch would be passed to Bill, but Molly had given him a ring from her father, and giving Charlie the compass that his grandfather had brought back from the war had made the most sense.

Besides, neither Bill nor Charlie would have appreciated the old watch. For one, it was ornate and not as functional as either of them would have liked. Both of them were adventure seekers and something this fragile wouldn't have done either of them any good.

Percy, on the other hand... Well, Arthur hoped he would like the watch. It still worked and it seemed to fit Percy's style. The history behind the watch would certainly excite his third eldest. But Percy was so quick to deny things that didn't fit the plan he laid out, and that terrified Arthur. What if Percy just threw the watch in some box and never looked at it again?

If the time came would he pass the watch onto one of his kids? Could Arthur even handle giving up the watch himself? It was one of the only things he had left from his father, the others being the mountain of journals his father had written over the years.

Septimus had a habit of writing everything down, most likely due to being the seventh child in his own family. Memories tended to change over the years when so many eyes had witnessed it, but Septimus liked things to be exactly as they were.

Percy reminded Arthur of his father in a painstaking way. The boy would never admit he needed help and locked himself away to learn. That's why it mattered to Arthur so much that Percy liked the watch. He didn't want to see Percy denying his family again. Arthur knew he couldn't give his children everything, but damn did he try. At least they had a loving home which he saw to be more important than a fancy house filled with fancy things.

* * *

 

Percy looked at the watch as if he was studying it. Arthur waited patiently for his son to make a comment or at least some sign he liked the gift. But the boy had been silent since he opened the box.

"Did you get this from Grandfather?" Arthur perked up at the question.

"Yes, and he got it from his father."

"How old is it?"

Arthur pointed to the pocket watch. "If you look inside, the front cover has the date."

"1796," Percy mused, "Interesting."

"Do you like it?" Arthur couldn't wait any longer.

"Yeah," Percy turned it over, "It's pretty cool."

Arthur's heart sunk a bit. Bill and Charlie were over the moon when they had received their heirloom gifts and if they weren't, at least they had had the decency to fake it.

"I just wish I knew more about it." Percy turned the watch back over. "That's what makes these things so great. We know why Bill's ring is significant and we've all heard the story about Charlie's compass. But I just know this watch was made in 1796."

"I have your grandfather's journals." Arthur stood up from his seat. "Maybe they have something about the watch?"

"And even if they don't I'm sure Grandfather wrote some fascinating things."

They spent the rest of the evening combing through Septimus' journals. Neither one found anything about the watch, but Arthur could tell Percy was satisfied anyway. The knowledge from the journals was enough to make up for the fact that the watch was a mystery. Who knows? Maybe they'd find something about it someday.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my Fanfiction.net page  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/u/5665438/BetterYouThanMe


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